11/12 Week Update

Here we are again, with our weekly pregnancy updates! This is the last few days of our 12th week, and it seems like time is already flying! As I mentioned earlier, this time around I haven't been feeling well, and seem to have every possible symptom I could have. Well, not TOO much has changed however I have had some relief from a prescription for nausea and then taking different prenatal vitamins at night instead of in the morning. Our midwife suggested taking two children's chewable vitamins instead as they provide the same nutrients as a prenatal vitamin so I have been doing that. Overall it's helped, however it has had a weird side effect...You know how you always hear about weird food cravings/diversions(?) (I'm not sure if that is the right word, but food you used to like all of a sudden seems repulsive) and also how certain food gives you a weird taste in your mouth even though it has to be completely in your head because there is no way it could possibly taste like that? Well, with my vitamins, the after taste that I get tastes the way that raw meat juice smells. So for like 45 minutes after taking my vitamins, I am wanting to vomit because all I can think about is raw red meat and chicken juice in my mouth. NASTY RIGHT?

Luckily it goes away, and I feel much better throughout the day! I would much prefer that to feeling like throwing up literally 17 hours of the day! I feel like I am slowly getting some energy back, and I am sure that has a lot to do with not feeling quite as sick. I am hoping that each week will get a little bit better! I am starting to show a little bit, but it's probably still only noticeable to me. I feel way to bloated in my jeans so I whipped out the maternity ones and the leggings...oh joy!!! Actually, I don't mind them too much, it's almost like wearing sweats because they are pretty comfortable.

Gavin and I are finally over our colds, thank goodness!!! Ryan just finished up on the rifle range, and is doing well also! Not too much else to update...

Gavin's First Haircut

We finally caved. Ryan and I have been mentioning cutting Gavin's hair for months, and we have both been relunctant to do it. But it was finally to the point where Gavin's little curls were just a hot mess, it was tangled and fluffy and just needing a good trim. Nothing crazy!

I didn't want to take too much off because I love his cute little baby hair, and it was good that was my goal because he wouldn't sit still for me to do much anyways!

Here are some pics:

"Surprise!"

Even though I am about 99% sure all you who actually read this blog probably know already, but...

I've been waiting to officially announce anything until we actually heard the heart beat!

Today, we went it for our first official doctors appointment and had the first ultra sound. It was great. We are due February 26th, the baby measured a little big and the computer calculated a February 24th date, but our midwife (yes...midwife, I'll get to that later!) is sticking with the February 26th date..as if it matters, babies do not care about your little pretend due date. I'm just glad it isn't a leap year!

So far this pregnancy has kind of knocked me on my ass. I was not expecting this type of symptoms, as my last pregnancy was mostly a breeze. I have been so sick, so tired, and just so BLA. I threw up more than I ever did the first pregnancy within the first couple weeks. Luckily, I have been able to hold off the vomiting with mind over matter as I know that what is making me feel sick isn't what is in my stomach it's just my hormones. I also started taking my prenatal vitamins at night, which has helped tremendously. My midwife told me today that I could try taking two children's vitamins instead of the prenatal vitamins, as I would get the same amount of vitamins needed, but they are a lot less harsh. I will be trying that. She also gave me a prescription for anti-nausea, so I am extremely excited to see if that gives me some relief.  I've been so fatigued too which I never had as bad with Gavin. I have no energy to do anything. Somedays it is literally a battle to get off the couch. I have hated feelings this way, I feel like such a blob. I am very anxious for the second trimester to get here. Also, this baby better be a girl because I'm not sure if I want to sign up for this again, hahahaha!

So, back to the midwife comment, generally I would lean more towards a medical doctor for a majority of my personal health needs, it's a personal choice...That being said, with our last doctor, I was really disappointed with all of the pushiness for unnecessary tests, scaring you with "do not do this, do not do that's," and then leaning more towards medical intervention (i.e., pushing you towards c-sections, etc.) So I was thinking about alternatives, and then realized that it can actually be difficult to find a doctor who is willing to let you do a VBAC which is a natural delivery, after a cesarean. I am determined to deliver naturally, without a c-section this time, if I am able. Obviously if we have another breech baby I do not have a choice, but I do not want to be told I have to have a c-section just because a doctor deems it easier. SO....I was thinking a midwife might be our best bet. I was thrilled to learn that the Naval Hospital here has midwifery in the OB-Gyn department and was going to ask about that option. Well, I went in to start my process of getting into the OB-GYN department (stupid military hospitals and their processes) and I was seen by a Navy medical doctor. He told me that he would want me to try a VBAC and that the Naval Hospital in general was very supportive, if not, encouraging about it. I was very happy with this information. He told me that even though he was a family medicine doctor I could still continue to see him, however it all depended on the referral process with insurance, bla bla bla. Well, after I had my in-take appointment, they just assigned me to a midwife. So long story short, that is how we ended up with a midwife...I actually really liked her, and didn't get the "hippy" vibe that I was expecting. She seems like the perfect mix of natural and western medicine that I like. I very pleased so far!

Gavin has been practicing the word "baby" and says it like a champ! When I ask him where the baby is? he points at my belly. He obviously has no idea what any of it means, it is just his newest circus trick, but hopefully he will start to get it! When we ask him if he wants a baby brother or sister he just says yes and nods. Haha, too cute! 

More from July & Daddy Coming Home!

I am glad to report that Ryan is FINALLY back from Florida! Gavin and I have been "roughing" it for the past two weeks while Ryan was in Tampa doing some training for work. He had a pretty good time! I am not going to lie, I was a bit envious of him...haha! Though, I'm not sure how I would have faired in the that Florida humidity.

I wanted to make sure that Gavin was busy, mostly so he wouldn't be cranky that Dada wasn't home, so I tried to do several activities "treats" with him. Like I mentioned we went to Playwerx, and to the beach. Well, we also went and got frozen yogurt and happy meals at McDonalds together. Gavin's "favorite" thing though was meeting Elmo. I wish you could sense my sarcasm when I say the word favorite.

The company who leases our house here on base, Lincoln Military Housing, is really good at planning weekly and monthly events. One thing I noticed in our newsletter was "Play Dates" that were being sponsored by a Joint Medical health service place here in Oceanside. I saw that Elmo was going to be coming to meet the kids, and that there were giveaways, story time and free massages for the moms. Well, obviously you had me at meeting Elmo...HA yeah right, free massage....So we went! I got my little massage and Gavin got to play with little kids. And then it happened. Elmo. I didn't even see it coming, but Gavin did and the second he laid eyes on that red furry creature, Gavin was a stage five clinger. He had an iron grib on my leg and was scaling me like...running out of analogies. But he was climbing up me to make sure I was holding on to him to protect him from the beast.

This was after we tried sitting on Elmo's lap. This was literally as close as I could be to Elmo and let Gavin down. He kept one eye on Elmo and one eye on me. 

I tried to show him all the other kids dancing and hugging Elmo, and how funny and silly it was. Nope. Not fooled. Well, Elmo sat down and was making itself available for picture time. Of course I had to try. Well, it didn't go well. When it was our turn, I walked towards Elmo to set Gavin on its lap and I don't think I would have been physically able to release Gavin's grip from me. It was hilarious. Well, until Gavin started whimpering in fear, and then I felt bad and gave up. We just watched Elmo at a distance.

So that was something that we did to entertain our time while Daddy was gone. Another thing we did was master the meaning of "timeout." Gavin has been mastering the tantrums and learning how to press the perfect buttons. Well, one of my is hitting. So every time he hits me, he gets to visit timeout. Needless to say, he makes timeout look good. I smile and laugh while his little nose is in the corner because he looks so cute!

Gavin's newest phrase is "Cheese!" We taught him how to say it, for literally cheese, his string cheese which is one of his favorite snacks. Well, I started teaching him to say it so that he smiles in pictures. And it is SO cute!!! Now, he will pick up my phone and just say "Cheese!" hhahaha!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO_EMZs_Q5c

Our July in a nutshell...

Well, not TOO much is new around here lately! :)

We are laying low lately! I've been so annoyed with our weather lately, it's been so gloomy! Usually we have the June Gloom, but it has lasted for a majority of July too! Bascially, it's a very low Marine Layer that covers the coast, and maybe four miles inland or something, and it is just grey! It usually is supposed to burn off by noon, but lately it has been lasting all day, every day. So it is just warm and muggy, yuck! I hate humidity! It's been about 80% humidity, so pretty gross, but could be worse!

I finally got Ryan to help me plant some grass to fill in the spots in our "backyard." I have been DILIGENTLY watering it like he told me too and guess what...IT CAME UP! (I'm not sure if I blogged about it last summer, but we tried to plant new grass in Odessa and well...it didn't turn out very great). I will post some pictures soon! I am going to wait until we cut it as we had to wait until the new grass was at least two inches tall, but all the grass that was there is like a jungle and looks pretty trashy.

Gavin and I checked out a new location the other day, it is called PlayWerx in Carlsbad, CA. OH my goodness. He was in heaven! It's like an indoor playground, but everything is soft and bouncy. Gavin was literally running and laughing and screaming. He was in heaven! We played for two hours straight, and he was pooped afterwards! I can't wait to take him back again with Daddy this time! Here is a video and some pictures from our little outing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMLjxD9l1AQ

Some other big news is that Gavin is off the bottle! THANK THE LORD! It's been my fault. I haven't been very active on weaning him. I got him down to two bottles a day (morning and night) before our Odessa Vacation, but thought it might be best to wait until we were home to completely wean him for ease sake. Well, that came and went and he was still on the bottle. So three days ago I decided enough was enough and I told him as I was giving him his "nigh nigh" bottle, that this was the last one and that tomorrow the bottles have to go buh-bye. He gave me a confused look...

Then morning came and the power had gone out that night, and my phone was dying so we went to the car to charge it and had breakfast in the car. With the distraction, excitement of playing in the car and change of schedule, he didn't ask for his bottle once.

Gavin playing in the car while I was charging my phone. Also, may I add, this is like the 7th time we have lost power is less than six months. UGH!

That night, he had a little milk in his sippy cup, but then after he went to bed he woke up every two hours, and one of those wake ups he was screaming for his "bah bah." It was sad, but I stayed strong and he hasn't asked for once since! It has been three downs now, bottle free!

Alrighty, here are some random new photos over the past few weeks!

 Check out those cheeks!

 He's learned how to say "cheese!" Now he grabs my phone and says CHEESE! What? It's like I take a few pictures of him or something?

 I love this chumba wumba. He is watching Dora the Explorer. Poor mommy!

 Gavin and I had a date at the beach the other day! It was FINALLY a sunny day!

The many faces of my Gavin.

Odessa Vacation!

Well, here I am with at least 100 excuses as to why I haven't updated. But, I'll save a couple of those for later :)

I realized that I never put up a post about our Odessa/Seattle Vacation...oops!

In May, we traveled up to Washington for our first, real, vacation. It was everything and more. We had a mini family reunion, a surprise party for my dad and my baby brother graduated from high school. All in the same weekend. It was crazy, but it was awesome! Gavin got to meet and play with new aunties, uncles and cousins. I finally got to see so many family members I haven't seen in years, and best of all Ryan was with us this time. He's real and not imaginary! (It's a joke with us because he can never make it to any of our family functions it seems like!)

Ryan and I were able to have a full day date, going to the spa, dinner and movies while Gavin stayed with grandparents. We celebrated Ryan's 27th birthday with most of our family. It was great! Gavin was able to run and run and run. He had endless people to chase after him and wear him out. I was worried he might be depressed once we came home!

Here are a few pictures from our vacation!

Our little family at my dad's surprise 25th Anniversary of Ordination party

 Gavin's first experience with eating dirt. An entire handful.

We watched the boys ride motorcycles and Daddy took a break to chase Gavin. Love the open gravel roads to run!

Ryan had his nephews out at the farm and took them for rides on all of the equipment. Gavin was loving to watch and was waving as everyone was driving by!

ER Visit

I've meant to update on here like a hundred times but for some reason I am lacking the motivation to write anything...maybe it's because any extra time or creative juices I have are going into my photography.

But alas, I finally have a story to write!

We had a very interesting evening the other day. Ryan has been on a field op, but luckily he has been able to come home every night and even for lunch...it's kind of a weird field op...but it was the weekend, so he had to take a 12 hour shift. I have been dog-sitting my friends dogs and Gavin and I were over there letting them out to do their business. The first time I brought Gavin it was kind of a pain because the dogs are both large dogs and trying to wrangle two dogs and a baby and clean up their poop was just a huge hassle. So I left Gavin in the car (I was standing right next to it & the windows were down) while the dogs were doing their thing. Once we were done, I went to grab Gavin so we could all go inside and I could feed the dogs, water, etc. So the dogs are up at the car door with me, I'm just starting to pull Gavin out when out of nowhere another couple walks by with two puppies. Well, being dogs, the two dogs I have lunged towards the puppies, pulling me with them. Poor Gavin though came tompling out and fell onto the pavement. It all happened so fast it took me a moment to realize what had happened. Then of course I didn't see exactly how Gavin had landed and what was hurt. He was crying hysterically. I was about to cry hysterically. The dogs were loose, and I didn't even know what to do. Luckily, the couple with the puppies came to my aide, grabbed "my" dogs, put them inside and the lady helped me with Gavin. He was obviously very scared and in pain. I decided to take him into the ER just to me safe. He seemed alright, but because I didn't see if he hit his head directly on the pavement or how hard that I didn't want to mess around with a concussion or worse.

I was a hot tranny mess. Of course I didn't have the diaper bag, a bottle, a binkie, anything...so I had to drive home, grab what I could as quickly as I could and try and drive through my tears! Gavin was crying in the back, and finally calmed down but was getting sleepy. It was his bedtime, but with head injuries you don't want them to fall asleep, so I am shaking his car seat and singing. I'm glad I didn't have a cop behind me! We finally made it to the hospital and after driving around he God forsaken parking lot trying to find the ER entrance I stormed in the main entrance and got us checked in. By this time, we had all calmed down a bit...not before I made a scene at the desk, crying like a mad woman though, causing the nurse to hand me a box of tissues...

The doctor checked him out and said everything looked fine, it was just a knarly bruise. THANK GOD! I'd better be safe than sorry, so I am glad I took him in, even if I did look a fool :)

So, that marks Gavin's second trip to the ER in his short little life....This boy is going to give me a heart attack and lots and lots of grey hair, I can tell you that right now!

 His ouchie boo boo

Our little cookie monster.